{"id":7543,"date":"2021-09-28T17:23:56","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T17:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/?p=7543"},"modified":"2021-09-28T17:32:21","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T17:32:21","slug":"amoako-boafo-on-exhibition-singular-duality-me-can-make-we-and-the-enduring-celebration-of-blackness-through-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/amoako-boafo-on-exhibition-singular-duality-me-can-make-we-and-the-enduring-celebration-of-blackness-through-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Amoako Boafo On Exhibition \u2018Singular Duality: Me Can Make We,\u2019 And The Enduring Celebration Of Blackness Through Art"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Amoako Boafo, \u201cYellow Throw Pillow\u201d (2021), Oil on canvas, 79.5 x 62.5 in (201.9 x 158.8 cm)
\u00a9 Thomas Amoako Boafo, 2021. <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Prolific Ghanian artist Amoako Boafo recently spoke with Dazed<\/a> about his new exhibition, Singular Duality: Me Can Make We<\/em>, currently on view at LA\u2019s Roberts Projects until November 6th. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boafo\u2019s spirited, large-scale paintings honor Blackness in all of its glory, and they are directly inspired by real people within his own community: those who raise his awareness, the disadvantaged population, or even stylish individuals that galvanize a future painting. \u201cThese are people I choose to celebrate through my portraits. They make me as much as I make them,\u201d he said. The striking portraits within Singular Duality <\/em>feature people that would usually not have the opportunity to be portrayed in such a way. Those who have been silenced or marginalized are oftentimes who Boafo gravitates towards in his art, or the people who influence him through the humanitarian work that they\u2019re doing in the world.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Amoako
Courtesy of Roberts Projects LA<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One distinguishing factor in Boafo\u2019s paintings is how the shadows are detached from his subjects, and the meaning behind this artistic choice carries a deep sense of wisdom. \u201cThe presence of shadows here is me introducing my subjects\u2019 shadows, once connected but now separated and almost becoming an image in their own right,\u201d he explained. \u201cMy subjects are individuals with their own dreams, goals, traumas, aspirations, and pain and these are all present behind that look of confidence and poise. It is important to note that a person must know and accept themselves in totality, not pretend to have only one side.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artist\u2019s use of vivid, bold colors is rooted in expression and has cultural significance. \u201cIn my culture, for instance, certain colours convey a direct message in communicating a person\u2019s mood. So it is in my paintings,\u201d Boafo tells Dazed. \u201cI use colours to convey the mood of my subjects or my mood while painting, be it the background, the clothes of the subjects, or an item surrounding my subjects. These colours in my works mostly inspire connections between the observer and subjects of the work.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Amoako
Amoako Boafo. Monstera Leaf Sleeves<\/em>, 2021. Oil and paper transfer on canvas. 77 x 76.5 in (195.6 x 194.3 cm) Courtesy of Roberts Projects LA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Amoako
Amoako Boafo Yellow Beret<\/em>, 2021. Oil on canvas<\/span>
<\/span>82.68 x 64.96 in (210 x 165 cm), Courtesy of Roberts Project LA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When asked what he\u2019s most thrilled for in the Black art world, Boafo enthused about how there has been a major inclusion of Black art and African art in popular culture, which is a considerable victory. \u201cThere is a whole plethora of artworks and artists waiting to erupt out of Africa and Black culture onto the global stage. This is exciting and I am looking forward to seeing its direct impact on the African art market and the emergence of world-class artists out of Africa.\u201c<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about Amoako Boafo\u2019s solo exhibition Singular Duality: Me Can Make We<\/em> by visiting Roberts Projects<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prolific Ghanian artist Amoako Boafo recently spoke with Dazed about his new exhibition, Singular Duality: Me Can Make We, currently on view at LA\u2019s Roberts Projects until November 6th.  Boafo\u2019s spirited, large-scale paintings honor Blackness in all of its glory, and they are directly inspired by real people within his own community: those who raise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[1194,149,1195,31,51],"class_list":["post-7543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","tag-amoako-boafo","tag-black-art","tag-black-exhibit","tag-featured","tag-trending"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}